There is still some debate about the impact AI and other technological advancements will have on employment. One camp says that we are going to be confronted with massive amounts of job loss, something that will take a long time to recover from. The other laughs off the claim about technological unemployment, pointing to the fact that technology always created more jobs than it destroyed.
While it is going to take a lot of years for this resolve itself, we are starting to see some of the effects.
Microsoft is in laying off 27 journalists who were responsible for the articles on the Edge browser and showed up on the MSN website.
Around 27 individuals employed by PA Media – formerly the Press Association – were told on Thursday that they would lose their jobs in a month’s time after Microsoft decided to stop employing humans to select, edit and curate news articles on its homepages.
This is not something new in the journalism industry. Many news sites are using "robotic" journalists to produce articles for their sites. It is putting a dent in the number of jobs available in the field.
Imagine all those who recently graduated from journalism school and are trying to embark upon a career. Here we are witnessing the potential elimination of an industry before our eyes.
It is a situation that is only going to get worse.
Many tech companies are experimenting with uses for Artificial Intelligence in journalism, with the likes of Google funding investment in projects to understand its uses, although efforts to automate the writing of articles have not been adopted widely.
One of the beliefs that is being quickly negated was the idea that artificial intelligence would not be able to take over jobs where creativity was required. While it is still not completely to the point, AI is starting to enter the arena to a greater degree.
When mega-technology sets its eyes on a particular industry, things tend to get hairy very quickly. The point AI is at right now means that it is highly likely we see major breakthroughs in the next couple years. This increases the chances that other jobs will be equally as affected.
Part of the danger is the fact that many professions are now broken down into tasks. Companies look to automate tasks, thus reducing the need for as many employees. Over time, as people exit, the remaining tasks are passed on to the remaining workforce. When the next wave of automation of tasks occurs, we see the same thing repeating itself. And so it continues.
This is something to watch over the next few years.
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